Thanksgiving is right around the corner, which means we will soon be gathering with friends and family to celebrate and be thankful. So, it only seems fitting that we feature stories this week from students located all across the state who are thankful to receive a scholarship to attend the school of their choice.
In this video, we feature several moms who are grateful that the Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship Program is now available to Ohio students with special needs…
April is Autism Awareness Month! All month long, we will feature success stories from families who use the Ohio Autism Scholarship. If you would like to share your story, email us at info@scohio.org.
Below we feature Julie’s story. She is thrilled that her son is learning and growing thanks to the Autism Scholarship Program.
The Autism Scholarship has been an absolute blessing for our family. Because of it, our son Nathan has been able to learn and grow in ways we never thought were possible. He’s achieving goals and gaining a more positive self-esteem. Thanks to the scholarship, we are able to obtain specific tools and special ways of learning for our son’s specific needs that would not normally be available to us. We are very proud of our son and so very thankful.
-Julie Crawford, mother of an Autism Scholarship recipient
Parents of children with special needs can begin applying for the Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship Program. The Ohio Department of Education posted the searchable list of approved providers for the program online at https://scholarship.ode.state.oh.us/Provider.
The list will continue to be updated in real time as ODE continues to approve provider applications. Schools that are interested in becoming a provider for the program can visit the department’s website for instructions on how to apply.
Families can use the scholarship funding to pay for tuition at participating private schools that offer special education services and /or for additional services at approved private therapists and other service providers. The scholarship can also be used at other public providers, such as another public school district, if the district chooses to accept scholarship students.
To apply for a scholarship, just follow these three simple steps:
Step 1: Verify your child has an IEP
If your child attends a private school, be sure to request an IEP from your home district by the time of the April 15 deadline. Note that by law, the home school district has 30 days to fulfill the request.
Step 2: Choose a school and / or provider for your child
Review the approved provider list (available online here) and determine the school and/or provider(s) you wish to use. Note that more will be added to this list as ODE continues to approve providers.
Step 3: Call and request that your school / provider of choice apply for you
The school and/or provider(s) will apply for the scholarship on your behalf.
Any student in the state who has an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) is eligible to apply for a scholarship. Current private school students are also eligible. Remember, the deadline to apply for a scholarship for the first academic term is April 15, 2012.
Do you have questions about the application process? Let us know –we would be happy to answer them!
We are pleased to share an exciting update about Ohio’s new Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship Program. Yesterday, the State Board of Education approved the rules for the scholarship program, which puts our state one step closer to finalizing this scholarship that will help thousands of Ohio students with special needs. For the final step, the program rules will need to be approved by the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review (JCARR).
School Choice Ohio was actively involved in conversations with the State Board of Education as they considered the rules for approval.
The State Board of Education also heard testimony from Lola Lambert, a mother of a child with special needs. Her five-year-old son receives an Autism Scholarship, and her touching story detailed how he has grown thanks to the services that are available to him with the help of the scholarship. Below are excerpts from her powerful testimony.
“The scholarship allowed us to create a custom tailored program for my son that met all of his needs and worked on all of his IEP goals. Because of his intricate needs, we have sought out support from several scholarship providers in order to effectively work on his IEP goals. The results have been astounding! Our son has flourished with the program we have created for him. He has surpassed our expectations, and new goals are being made for him weekly because his progress is so incredible.
In the time they have been working with us, they have helped my son learn how to drink from an open cup, a straw, and a juice box; they have potty trained him; helped him be able to hold a spoon, scoop his food and get it successfully in his mouth, learn how to read, ride a bike, play on a real swingset, and engage in functional conversation.
Our goal is for our son to enter the public school system soon, and we feel that by using the ASP, we were able to really focus our attention on the areas that my son needed extra help in, so that he would be equipped to join his peers in class. Having access to the ASP for us meant that my son was able to get the services he needed, in the frequency that he needed them, and for that we are forever thankful.” -Lola Lambert, mother of a child with special needs
We look forward to sharing many more incredible stories like Lola’s once Ohio families begin using the Special Needs Scholarships.
Today, Senator Peggy Lehner was presented with School Choice Ohio’s Leadership Award in recognition of her commitment to advancing the principles of school choice in the state of Ohio. Senator Lehner played a critical role in helping make the Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship Program a reality for Ohio families.
School Choice Ohio’s Government Affairs Coordinator Jason Warner and Special Needs Outreach Manager Cheryl Bowshier present the Leadership Award to Senator Lehner
Last night, supporters of the new Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship gathered to celebrate its namesake and a state senator who helped bring the scholarship to life.
Jon Peterson, sponsor of the Autism Scholarship and long-time advocate of the Special Needs Scholarship, received School Choice Ohio’s first ever “School Choice Legacy” award.
School Choice Ohio Executive Director Chad Aldis presents Jon Peterson with the Legacy Award
Many of the parents, community advocates, and schools that he worked with during his tenure in the Ohio House of Representatives were there to celebrate the passage of the Special Needs Scholarship in the most recent state budget. Peterson now serves as Delaware County Treasurer.
State senator Kevin Bacon, who was instrumental in supporting the Scholarship during the state budget process, received a School Choice Leadership award for his role.
School Choice Ohio Board Chair Matt Cox presents Senator Kevin Bacon with the Leadership Award
Parents and advocates talked about the difference the Autism Scholarship has already made in their children’s lives. They also shared their excitement for the Special Needs Scholarship, because it will allow more families to access the education they know is best for their children.
Our warmest congratulations and thanks to Jon and Kevin for their strong advocacy on behalf of the many parents who are already lining up to use the Special Needs Scholarship next year. Your vision of innovative ways to serve Ohio students with special needs will change the face of education for the next generation.
Fati Fuchs and her husband are the proud parents of three children. Two of their children have special needs. Their daughter was diagnosed at age 3 with Autism, and their son was diagnosed with Down syndrome. This is their story.
Fati Fuchs remembers the day her daughter was diagnosed with Autism. At 3 years old, she was in need of ABA therapy. Thanks to the Ohio Autism Scholarship Program, her daughter now has the opportunity to live a happy, independent, and productive life.
“The Autism Scholarship has been critical to our daughter’s personal and academic success,” said Fuchs.
Unfortunately, the same opportunities presented by the Autism scholarship were not available to her son who was diagnosed with Down syndrome. Fati and her husband find that it is difficult to provide their son with the costly resources he needs to succeed. In addition, many private schools do not have the funding available to provide their son with the proper resources.
Thankfully for Fati and her husband, and other families in the same situation, all of that changed this year. The Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship Program was finalized on June 30, 2011, when Governor Kasich signed the new state budget.
Named for special education advocate and former Representative Jon Peterson, the program will build on the success of the state’s Autism Scholarship Program by providing scholarships to students with special needs who have an Individualized Education Program (IEP).
The program will give parents, like Fati and her husband, who have children with special needs, the opportunity to help their children succeed.
“This new Special Needs Scholarship Program will open up doors for our children, let us make the school choices and reduce the anxieties we feel as parents to find the best school to address the special needs and learning styles of our children,” said Fati.
Fati plans on applying for the scholarship program for their son as soon as the application window opens. She is grateful for all who worked hard to make this scholarship program possible.
“Our thank you to all,” said Fati, “especially to Representative Jon Peterson, for persevering and making this important program work for our children.”
Click here for more information on the Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship Program.
When Governor John Kasich signed the state budget into law on June 30, he finalized the creation of the Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship Program. After five years of advocating for this program in HB431, HB119, HB348, SB57, SB6, and HB136, parents of students with special needs now have new options for their children’s education. Now any student with special needs who has an IEP will be able to access a scholarship like those already available to students with autism.
Approximately 13,000 scholarships will be available, and each scholarship will be worth 90 percent of the student’s special education funding amount, with a cap of $20,000. The scholarship can be used to pay for tuition at a private school, additional services at a private provider, or at other public schools.
We are so happy to celebrate with families across the state who have worked so hard for so many years to make this scholarship a reality. Their vision of a scholarship that places students’ needs at the center of their education and empowers parents with options led them to write letters sharing their stories, testify at public hearings at the Ohio Statehouse, call key decision makers and urge their support, and meet individually with legislators time after time to show why this scholarship was so important to so many families.
It was not an easy road.
After two years of advocating, a proposal for the Special Education Scholarship reached Governor Strickland’s desk in 2007 only to be vetoed in a heart-breaking loss. The next year, Senator Coughlin led the fight to pass the bill in the State Senate. After securing passage in the Senate, the bill moved to the House where it was championed by Representative Jon Peterson and Speaker Jon Husted. After the House Education Committee recommended the scholarship for passage, the bill failed on the House floor with 49 yes votes to only 44 no votes (bills need 50 votes to pass the House). It was another crushing blow to parents.
But parents continued to work behind the scenes and share their stories. Parents of students who had benefitted from the Autism Scholarship shared how successful the scholarship had been for their children with autism and argued that it should be available for students with any type of disability. Parents of students with other special needs shared how they could see other options that would serve their children better but could not access them because of the expense.
Then, this year, for the 6th time in as many years, Rep. Matt Huffman put the scholarship on the legislative table again. This time, after years and years of hearing heart-breaking stories from families, legislators were ready to move forward with the scholarship, and there was no veto pen waiting for them at the end of the line. The Ohio Senate, with leadership from many Senators including Senators Bacon and Lehner, included the scholarship in their version of the state budget, the House of Representatives agreed, and Governor Kasich signed it into law on June 30.
So, what will this mean?
Named for the special education advocate and former Representative Jon Peterson who also helped create the Autism Scholarship, this new scholarship will build on the success of its predecessor.
While many of the details are still being worked out, the scholarship will begin in the 2012-13 school year. We will update our web page on the scholarship (www.scohio.org/specialeducation) as new information becomes available.
The Ohio Senate’s budget proposal released today includes language that creates a special education scholarship program. A special needs voucher program has been discussed in the Statehouse for many years, and now with this action by the Senate, we are one step closer to making this a reality for Ohio families who have children with special needs.
The creation of a special education scholarship program would empower families of children with special needs to find the best learning environment for their child’s unique educational needs. These families would finally be able to access the same educational opportunities that students with autism have for the past eight years.
Scholarship amounts would be based on the student’s disability and associated educational needs. A portion of the money that would have been used to fund the child’s public education will follow the child to the private school. It is estimated that approximately 260,000 students with special needs would be eligible to receive a scholarship. The special needs scholarship program would allow up to five percent of the students with special needs, approximately 13,000 students statewide, to access the private educational providers of their choice.
Stay tuned as the Senate’s final budget will be determined next week.
In what must be a huge frustration for special education teachers and aides, not to mention parents and students, The Columbus Dispatch reported yesterday on a state law that enables more school districts across Ohio to re-route special education funding away from special education.
As the Dispatch reported, the Ohio Department of Education has granted additional flexibility to districts in spending their special education dollars. Amazingly, the changes now mean that districts may be able to divert funds even if they aren’t making progress according to federal standards or educating students in the “least restrictive environment.”
Controls and tracking on how school districts spent funds generated to educate students with special needs were already sparse, but this gives districts explicit permission to use a portion of these funds on other things. Districts aren’t hesitating – $22 million are now being diverted statewide.
Perhaps the most frustrating thing is the constant refrain heard from school districts that special education is inadequately funded. If true, the diversion of additional funds that could have adequately funded educational services for students with special needs is unconscionable. If false, claims of inadequate funding go from being unconscionable to immoral.
Students must be funded based upon their educational needs, and the funds generated by the educational needs of students should be spent on providing services to those students. Sounds simple-but how could this be accomplished?
It is again time to revisit the idea of a voucher for students with special needs. A program of this type has been considered by the last three General Assemblies and with good reason. It puts the funds necessary to educate a child with special needs where it belongs-in that child’s educational program. You can learn more about the proposed voucher on our website.
A special needs voucher would give parents who are tired of financial shell games and who are frustrated at the services their child is receiving an option. This is an option most parents of special needs students in Ohio do not have.
While the transfer of funds designed for the education of students with special needs is frustrating, it is not the only evidence that the current system may not be working properly. In October, the Columbus Dispatch reported on a case challenging the way students with special needs were funded. That case took 18 years to make its way through the legal system (see our response here).
It is becoming increasingly clear that the status quo has to change. Placing the power in the hands of parents of students with special needs to choose where their child goes to school would do more than any regulation ever could to assure that school districts dedicate the resources necessary to provide these students with an appropriate education.
- Chad Aldis